


And a Spark was Kindled

by Anjaa



Category: Tangled (2010), Tangled: The Series (Cartoon)
Genre: Brief blood mention, F/M, and summaries, and swearing, and tags, but nothing major, i also suck at titles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-10
Updated: 2018-06-10
Packaged: 2019-05-20 05:23:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14888433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anjaa/pseuds/Anjaa
Summary: On her trip through the rain forest, Arianna discovers more than what she'd bargained for…





	And a Spark was Kindled

**Author's Note:**

> Got this idea a while back and decided to turn it into a quick one shot. Nothing fancy. 
> 
> This has not been beta read, so please ignore any mistakes. Also, I've kept Arianna's location very general. (In fact, I've kept a few things pretty unspecific) Weather or not this is a fictional forest is entirely up to you. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy it! :D

“Wow.”

  
“It's beautiful.”

No, beautiful wasn't quite the word to use to describe the _breathtaking_ view.

  
Arianna moved past her sister Wilhelmina, trudging out of the forest and into the small clearing. Before her lay a large pond of crystal clear water, a grand waterfall spilling over into the basin of water, spraying a light mist into the air. Plants and flowers lined the edge of the pond, and the sun shone through cracks in the surrounding trees. It was like a secluded piece of heaven.

  
Arianna removed her muddy hiking shoes and stepped into the water. She smiled, feeling the water lap around her ankles, “The water looks clean enough to drink, we can fill our canteens.”

  
“Yes, yes bossy,” Willow snorted, joining her sister in the pond. She kicked the water around playfully, “Why can't you loosen up? Live a little.”

  
Arianna sighed, “I am ‘ _living_ ’, Wilhelmina. Why else am I here?” She gestured around her. “You wanted to go on this trip with me. Stop complaining.”

  
Willow huffed, “Very well, _your majesty._ ” she jeered, dry lips cracking into a cooky grin. In one swift motion, she shoved her sister into the water and took off back in direction they'd come.

  
The cold water shocked Arianna. She quickly sat up in the fairly shallow waters edge and trotted out of the pond. “Willow!” She called after her sister, but Willow was long gone.

  
Groaning, Arianna slumped to the ground and slipped her shoes back on. What a _wonderful_ little sister she had.

  
Arianna had been on a few trips before this one, and had frequently sent letters to her sister describing her adventures. Naturally, as soon as their parents would allow, Willow begged Arianna to let her join her. Arianna agreed to allow her sister to join _one_ of her trips to appease both her parents and her sister.

  
This was a decision Arianna was starting to regret.

  
Three days into the trip Willow had caused quite a few problems, from a runaway horse carrying all their food, to wasting their water supply. Now Arianna was slightly on edge. What was Willow going to do next? Accidentally burn their supplies?

  
A rumble of thunder brought Arianna back to the present.

  
Glancing up at the darkening sky, she could see dark clouds rolling in. She stood up, uselessly dusting the dirt off her skirt. She should make her way back to camp.

  
Somewhere in the tree line, a hissing sound pierced the relative silence. Arianna froze, her hand slowly reaching into her satchel for her knife. Her hand turned up empty, and her eyes darted to the pond. She must have lost the contents of her bag when she fell in.

  
She inched towards the direction in which she'd come, eyeing the rustling foliage across the pond with caution. She'd been warned that wild cats roamed around the area. She hoped she wasn't about to encounter one now.

  
A clap of lightning followed by another roll of thunder revealed exactly what Arianna had feared. A tiger emerged from the forest, rounding the side of the pond, closing in on its prey.

  
Arianna yelped and, not really knowing what to do, ran into the forest, the tiger hot on her heels.

  
Her heart pounded in her chest as she ran. With every leap she felt the cat growing closer and closer. She couldn't outrun it. She needed a place to hide.

  
Her eyes scanned the now vastly unfamiliar territory, and spotted a giant tree not far up ahead. By now, it had begun to rain, making the terrain soft and slippery. She veered to the left, and jumped up to grab hold of one of the thick branches. Limb by limb, she climbed higher into the tree, hoping she'd lose the giant cat.

  
This, however, wasn't the case. The tiger followed her into the tree.

  
Arianna panicked. What was she supposed to do now? By now she was so high up in the tree she couldn't possibly jump down.

  
The tiger climbed onto her branch and Arianna inched away until she felt the wet bark of the sturdy trunk against her back.

  
Running out of ideas, Arianna brought her foot up and kicked the beast in the face - or she tried to at least. The tiger bit into her boot and dragged her down the branch and little ways before yanking the shoe off. Well shit.

  
With no other options, Arianna took a deep breath and screamed at the top of her lungs.

  
No sooner had she started screaming than an arrow cut through the rain, effectively hitting its target. The tiger let out one last growl, before dropping from the tree, dead.

  
Arianna stared at the spot where the tiger had been, in too much shock to bring herself to move.

  
A figure dropped down onto the branch and Arianna, not thinking clearly, took her satchel and gave the figure a good whack.

  
“Ow! Gods, take it easy madam!”

  
Arianna gasped, her eyes focusing on the wet man in front of her, “Oh no, I'm so sorry sir!”

  
The man rubbed his jaw, his beard and mustache wet and droopy, much resembling a wet spaniel. “No, no, it's alright. I'm sorry I startled you.”

  
The man raked his fringe back and out of his eyes. Bright, kind blue orbs stared back at Arianna's large green ones, and her breath hitched.

  
“Are you alright?” The man asked, coming closer.

  
She shook her head, “I-yes! Yes, I'm fine. Thank you, mr…?”

  
“Oh!” The man broke into a crooked grin, “My apologies. I'm Frederic, Prince Frederic of Corona.” He held out a dirty wet hand, and Arianna frowned, inching as far away from him as she could, given the circumstances.

  
“I'm sorry?” She asked incredulously, pretty sure she'd misunderstood him over the rain.

  
“My name is Frederic. I'm the Crown Prince of Corona,” Frederic said again, “And you are?”

  
“Arianna,” she answered quickly. She let her eyes casually give him a quick once over. This, ‘prince’ was dressed in fairly simple clothes. He was muddy and his hair looked to be in need of a trim. What's more, he was sitting in a tree. In the rain. Bottom line was, he didn't look very regal. Was he joking?

  
Frederic caught on to her disbelief and laughed, “I know it must be awkward, meeting me here like this. But I'm here with good reason,” he tapped a badge on his chest, “I'm here for business.”

  
Arianna hummed, nodding in mild understanding, “I see. And your business is up in a tree?”

  
“No, I-I was taking a break,” he gestured to the dark sky, “It's a beautiful day…” A roll of thunder interrupted him as it began to rain even harder, “... _Was_ a beautiful day anyway.”

  
Arianna laughed lightly, feeling a genuine smile creep up onto her face. “It's alright your highness, no need to explain yourself.”

  
Frederic breathed a sigh of relief, “Good.”

  
A loud cracking noise split the air, and the branch began to sag. Not leaving much time to react, the branch broke apart, pitching the pair to the muddy ground below.

  
Arianna braced herself for the impact, however, her fall had been buffered by the prince, who she'd landed on top of.

  
With their bodies so close, she could feel the prince’s solid chest rising and falling beneath her, his heart beating rapidly, almost in sync with her own fluttering heart.

  
He looked up at her, eyes betraying his concern, “Are you alright?”

  
She felt her face growing warm, and she quickly scrambled away. They had been a little too close for her liking. “Yes, yes! I'm fine. Thank you, _again_ , your highness.” she offered, shivering a bit. She glanced up at the sky. The rain didn't appear to be letting up anytime soon. “I have to go..”

  
Frederic got up, also giving the sky a quick glance, “Same. I've got a meeting with the military base in a few hours…. if the rain lets up.”

  
Arianna nodded.

  
Deep down, in the very depths of her soul, she didn't want to leave this mysterious prince. Although they'd been in each other's company for all of about five minutes, something drew her to him.

  
And so, despite having been fairly reserved moments prier, she stalled for time. For a few more seconds in his presence.

  
She wanted to say something, to break to awkward silence, but no words would come.

  
Finally, Frederic spoke up, “Shall I escort you back...?”

  
“No.” was Arianna's quick answer. She groaned inwardly. Why had she said that?

  
Frederic looked down at his shoes and nodded, “Very well… I suppose I'll be on my way then…”

  
Arianna shifted on her feet as she watched him turn to leave, feeling somewhat guilty. She stepped backwards and hit into a limp object; the tiger. Had it not tried to eat her earlier she would have said it was beautiful - save for the blood oozing from its mouth.

  
Her heart swelled, thankful for the prince’s assistance. If he hadn't shot the tiger, Arianna didn't know what would have happened to her. She owed him one.

  
Looking up, she watched Frederic disappear into the hazy foliage, before turning and trudging back to camp.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not entirely sure if I'll continue this (I'll see how much you guys like this first), so for now this'll just be a one shot. Hope you enjoyed it! Feedback is greatly appreciated! <3


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